In full development for three decades is the “Nestor” experiment for the detection of neutrinos, thirty nautical miles outside Pylos, in the sea, at a depth greater than five kilometers.

It is named after the initials “Neutrino Extended Submarine Telescope with Oceanographic Research” (Nestor), but in addition, the name of the eponymous king of the region of Pylos in ancient times also played a role in… “baptisms”. “Nestor” is considered one of the most important experiments in the history of Physics, as it aims to detect invisible particles of matter that are related to the creation of the universe. The program is funded by the General Secretariat of Research and Technology of the Greek Ministry of Education and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

In the depths of the Greek seas, in the “Frear of Oinoussa”, as the specific area in the south-western Peloponnese is called, scientists are attempting to map the most primordial and strangest particles of matter, the unknown neutrinos.

Neutrinos are electrically neutral ghost particles of almost zero mass that travel straight and uninterrupted through the vast expanses of the universe at speeds close to the speed of light, without being deflected, reacted with, or decayed by interstellar matter.

It is estimated that they have been traveling since the beginning of the creation of the world, the famous Big Bang 15 billion years ago. These invisible Space travelers hide within themselves information about the creation of the universe. The “Nestor Institute” in Pylos took advantage of a geographical feature of the area (it looks like a huge underwater well) in order to “trap” and “photograph” the neutrinos. However, for this to happen, it is planned, among other things, to install a huge 12-story telescope with a diameter of 32 meters and a total height of 330 meters, i.e. bigger than the Eiffel Tower.

Through all this, a new form of astronomy emerges, beyond the sky and beyond the existing scientific knowledge, however incredible it may sound that astronomy and the construction of a telescope in the depths of the sea go hand in hand.

The entire experiment is conducted in the aforementioned underwater well, at a distance of only 7.5 nautical miles from the island of Sapienza and 11 miles from Methoni, at a depth of 5,200 meters. The volume of water above the bottom of the well filters out cosmic radiation and facilitates observation, in the same way that darkness facilitates observation of the stars, as the waters in the “well of the Oinuses” are extremely clear.

The goal is to create a new map of the sky by studying these high-energy neutrinos, a form of radiation that has not been studied at all until now and whose properties could drastically change the understanding of the creation of the universe. The Director of the “Nestor Institute” and head of the entire program is the Professor of Experimental Physics of the University of Athens, Leonidas Resvanis, who points out: “With neutrinos we can see deeper and further into the universe, precisely because they are not absorbed by anything, so if we decode them, we can see far back in time, maybe as far as the Bing Bang. We’re trying to open a window into a neighborhood of the universe that no one has so far looked at. The most exciting thing is that we don’t know what we will find. If we knew, wouldn’t it be exciting!».